real life. not perfect. but almost.

5 Friday Favorites | 29

I am finally on the mend, people. It honestly took a full 7 days but there are no more fever, chills, stuffy nose, or sore throat. 7 days. Ick. Hence my current MIA status on just about everything in life. I’m so thrilled for the weekend for a million reasons and can’t wait to share them next week! I also happily managed to find a few favorites from this week too. Enjoy!

one// Valentine’s Day. I’m not big on Valentine’s day, yes I’m on that side of the fence. But Caleb and I always try to do something to show the kids we love them and honor the day and also do something a little out of the ordinary for each other. This year, we ended up doing more celebrating than possibly ever before! Ha. The kids opened their presents from us right away in the morning: candy, a special shirt, nerf guns for the boys, and art supplies for Ava. (Yes my boys have guns, no one, repeat NO ONE is more surprised than me at that…) Ava wore her shirt to school, she was so excited!

Ignore the awful cell phone pics. Too sick to get the “good” camera.

If the morning wasn’t exciting enough as it was, there was a surprise knock at the door. My parents dropped off more presents for the kids (and me!). Thanks Mom & Dad! THEN we get a phone call from the school… worst feeling ever… and find out Carson forgot his Valentine’s at home. So Caleb, Harv, and Jack drove to his school to drop them off. It was an atypical morning. I’m pretty sure all the excitement made the kids much more excited about the day!

Caleb suggested Chinese Take Out for dinner and I was 100% on board with this. No cooking, minimal clean up, we’ve never done it together and I know all the kids will eat something. Definitely a “win”.

Caleb and I exchanged cards and a few minutes of alone time, then we sent Caleb and Carson to Boy Scouts and the rest of the Crew hung out and played till bedtime. Wild night!

two// Birthday Dinner! It’s my Father in Laws birthday tomorrow (Happy birthday!), so we invited him over for dinner this week. Caleb made his famous meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and I was in charge of the rest. Neither Caleb nor his Dad are big dessert guys so I opted for something a little different: caramelized pears with ice cream. It helped that Caleb bought a million pears at Costco last week.

three// MN Weather. Yes, on Monday I mentioned I want snow. I do. We’ve so missed out this year. However, the 50s we’ve been rocking over last weekend and the 60s forecasted for this weekend are pretty dang awesome too! We’ve been going on walks, playing outside, and heading to the park. Really makes the February Winter Blues disappear!

This is how he feels about going home after falling in a puddle.

four// Future DIY Project. I was scrolling Instagram the other day and one of my favorite follows (@bunchofbrooks – a Mom of 8 kiddos) posted a picture of a piece of art her husband framed with the most lovely poem ever. I have a million ideas of what to do with it and I assure you when I decide, you’ll be the first to know. For now, I’ll leave you with the poem:

In families with a lot of kids, there’s very sure to be

differences in temperaments and personality.

You’ll find a wide variety in things they choose to do.

They’ll be little sports enthusiasts, artistic dreamers too.

They’ll be some who like to study and are never late for school,

while others get in trouble for defying every rule.

Some will spend their money like it’s going out of style,

Others with a frugal mind will save for things worthwhile.

There’s kids who like to follow, while others take the lead,

music freaks and movie fans and even some who like to read.

Put them all together and you have a motley crew,

sometimes it seems impossible the bunch belongs to you.

When the day is over and they’re safely tucked in bed,

one by one you count them and pat each sleepy head.

Good or bad or in-between, you know beyond a doubt,

there’s not a single one you could do without.

five// Earlier this week I was ragging on my boys for getting me sick. I still blame them, so this is not an apology. But I do love them all something fierce. I’ve been going back and forth on this idea of a daughter of my own (not one I have to share) and was a little obsessed for a while there. Then it hit me, nah I love this boy mama thing I’ve got going on and maybe life is exactly perfect like it needs to be ♥

Then I get hit in the head with a nerf dart and I snap back to reality. I need to rock this tee from thebravemamco.

Post navigation

3 thoughts on “5 Friday Favorites | 29”

Oh my goodness; it sounds like you had a great (and busy) Valentine’s Day. Also, I love the T-shirt; I must get one. Yes, there is plenty of Nerf darts, belching, and potty humor to go around in my house. Every day is an adventure!